Kesimer, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics. The Mucus Core will perform key mucin biochemical and biophysical measurements for all the Projects of the tPPG, which as a group are devoted to developing effective treatments to enhance mucus clearance based on a solid understanding of the physical and biochemical forces and factors which affect mucus viscoelasticity, transport, and the adhesion of mucus to epithelial surfaces. Emerging data from the Sheehan/Kesimer laboratory indicate strongly that proteins associating tightly with mucins are essential to mucus viscoelasticity and participate in airways defense. For Projects II and III, accordingly, the Core will use mass spectrometry approaches to identify the proteins that associate intimately with mucins, the mucin-interacting proteome.